Led package and method of manufacturing the same

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to light emitting diode (LED) packages and methods of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an LED package and a method of manufacturing the same that can reduce a variation of color coordinates of mass-produced LED packages.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the priority of Korean Patent Application No.2008-0024329 filed on Mar. 17, 2008, in the Korean Intellectual PropertyOffice, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to light emitting diode (LED) packages andmethods of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to an LEDpackage and a method of manufacturing the same that can reduce avariation of color coordinates of mass-produced LED packages.

2. Description of the Related Art

In general, light emitting diode (hereinafter, simply referred to as an“LED”) packages that include LEDs to generate light emission accordingto electrical signals are widely used in a wide variety of electronicproducts including mobile communication terminals, such as personalcellular phones, and PDAs.

A lead frame is used, a filler, obtained by mixing phosphors andsilicon, is injected into a bucket of the lead frame, and the insertedfiller is cured at a high temperature, such that the LED package ismanufactured.

FIGS. 1 and 2 are views illustrating an LED package according to therelated art. FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a method of manufacturing anLED package according to the related art. FIG. 2 is a cross-sectionalview illustrating the LED package after a filler is injected into abucket of the LED package, shown in FIG. 1, and then cured.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, according to the related art, the LED package1 includes an LED chip L. The LED chip L is mounted within an areaformed by a first partition wall 2, a second partition wall 3, a thirdpartition wall 4, and a fourth partition wall by die bonding and wirebonding. A filler obtained by mixing phosphors and silicon fills in thearea by using a dispenser D.

That is, when a plurality of LED packages are manufactured, LED chips Lare individually mounted within respective buckets B, and the exactamount of filler 6 is then injected into each of the buckets having theLED chips therein.

However, when the LED package 1 is manufactured by using the abovemethod, the filler 6 varies in height as shown in FIG. 2.

Further, it is also difficult for the dispenser D to fill each of theplurality of buckets B with the exact same amount of filler (since thebucket B is filled with a very small amount of filler). Furthermore, asshown in FIG. 1, since the third partition wall 4 and the fourthpartition wall 5 of the bucket B are relatively thinner than the firstpartition wall 2 and the second partition wall 3, the third partitionwall 3 and the fourth partition wall 5 are slightly deformed when curingthe filler at a high temperature. As a result, as shown in FIG. 2, thefiller varies in height, that is, a height a, b, or c.

Therefore, when an LED package is manufactured in mass production, thefiller filling in each of the LED packages has a height varyingaccording to each of the LED packages. As a result, when the LEDpackages generate a light emission, they have different refractiveindexes.

Even when LED packages emit light of the same color, color coordinatesbecome slightly different from each other, which results in an increasein the variation of the color coordinates.

Further, since lead frames need to be designed and manufacturedaccording to the varying thickness of the LED packages, manufacturingcosts increase.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An aspect of the present invention provides an LED package and a methodof manufacturing the same that can reduce a variation of colorcoordinates of mass-produced LED packages, and manufacture LED packagesof varying thickness by using one lead frame.

According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided anLED package including: a base part having a mounting portion to which anLED chip is bonded, and partition wall portions arranged at both sidesfacing each other of the mounting portion, the mounting portion havingthe other set of opposite sides opened; a filling part filling in aspace formed by the mounting portion and the partition walls at bothopposite sides and transmitting light generated from the LED chip; andan electrode part molded in the base part, protruding outward, andconnected to the LED chip.

The partition walls may include a reflective film to reflect lightgenerated from the LED chip.

The base part may be a single body.

The base part may be provided by dicing a base at predeterminedintervals, the base including partition walls formed at both oppositesides, and a groove formed between the partition walls and having aplurality of LED chips bonded thereto.

The filling part may be provided by dicing a filler filling in a spaceformed by the partition walls and the groove of the base, and be exposedthrough the other set of opposite sides of the mounting portion.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provideda method of manufacturing an LED package, the method including:providing a base having partition walls formed at both opposite sidesthereof and a groove arranged between the partition walls and havingboth open ended portions; arranging a plurality of LED chips atpredetermined intervals and bonding the LED chips to the groove; fillinga space formed by the partition walls and the groove with a filler andcuring the filler; and dicing the base filled with the filler atpredetermined intervals.

The filling a space with a filler may include providing screen membersat both open ended portions of the base, and filling a space formed bythe partition walls, the groove, and the screen members.

The method may further include removing the screen members before orafter the dicing the base.

In the bonding the LED chips to the groove, the LED chips may bearranged at irregular intervals according to the thickness of requiredLED packages, and in the dicing the base, the base may be diced toseparate the LED chips having thickness varying according to thethickness of the required LED packages.

The providing a base may further include forming a reflective film onthe partition walls to reflect light generated from the LED chips.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features and other advantages of thepresent invention will be more clearly understood from the followingdetailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a method of manufacturing an LED packageaccording to the related art;

FIG. 2 is a side cross-sectional view illustrating the LED packagemanufactured by the method of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view illustrating an LED package according to anexemplary embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a method of manufacturing a package bodyaccording to another exemplary embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a package body manufactured by the methodof FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An LED package and a method of manufacturing the same according toexemplary embodiments of the present invention will now be described indetail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

First, an LED package according to an exemplary embodiment of theinvention will be described with reference to FIG. 3. FIG. 3 is aperspective view illustrating the LED package according to theembodiment of the invention.

As shown in FIG. 3, an LED package 10 according to an exemplaryembodiment of the invention includes a base part 11, a filling part 12,and an electrode part 13.

Partition wall portions 11 b are formed at both sides of the base part11, and a mounting portion 11 a is provided between the partition wallportions 11 b.

An LED chip (not shown) is connected to the mounting portion 11 a bybonding (including at least one of die bonding and wire bonding). As thefilling part 12 fills in the mounting portion 11 a, the LED chip isburied in the filling part 12. The LED chip (not shown) is electricallyconnected to the electrode part 13.

As described above, the base part 11 of the LED package according tothis embodiment includes the partition wall portions 11 b at both sidesfacing each other of the mounting portion 11 a. At the same time, theother set of opposite sides are opened.

The electrode part 13 is blocked by the partition wall portions 11 b,but at the same time, both sides of the electrode part 13 are exposed tothe outside.

Preferably, a reflective film is formed on the partition wall portions11 b in order to reflect light generated from the LED chip.

A package body is manufactured, and then the LED package 10 ismanufactured by dicing the package body. A method of manufacturing theLED package 10 will be described in detail with reference to FIGS. 4 and5.

FIG. 4 is a view illustrating a process of manufacturing a package bodythat is used to manufacture an LED package according to anotherexemplary embodiment of the invention. FIG. 5 is a view illustrating thepackage body that is manufactured by the manufacturing method accordingto the embodiment of the invention, shown in FIG. 4.

First, a process of manufacturing a package body 100 that is used tomanufacture the LED package according to the embodiment of theinvention, as shown in FIG. 5, will be described with reference to FIG.4.

As shown in FIG. 4, a base 110 with large length is provided. Partitionwalls 112 are provided at a predetermined height on both sides of thebase 110. A groove 111 is provided between the partition walls 112 alonga longitudinal direction, and has a predetermined width. Both endportions of the groove 111 are opened.

Preferably, the base 110 is formed of resin by injection molding tothereby form a single body together with the partition walls 112 and thegroove 111. Preferably, a reflective film 121 is also formed on thepartition walls 112 so as to reflect light generated by the emission ofLED chips.

A plurality of LED chips are arranged at predetermined intervals, andbonded to the groove 111.

Screen members 120 are located at both opened ends of the groove 111.The screen members 120 may have substantially the same height as thepartition walls 112. Alternatively, as shown in FIG. 4, the screenmembers 120 may have a greater height than the partition walls 112.

Here, a predetermined space that is formed by the groove 111, thepartition walls 112, and the screen member 120 is filled with apredetermined filler by using a dispenser D.

This filler is a liquid mixture of phosphors, silicon, and the like totransmit light that is generated from the LED chips.

The partition walls 112 are plated or coated with the reflective film121 or applied with a reflective material. Further, the partition walls112 are inclined at a predetermined angle. Accordingly, the partitionwalls 112 can reflect light generated by the LED chips to emit the lightto the outside.

Then, the filler fills in the base 110, shown in FIG. 4, and is cured ata high temperature, thereby manufacturing the package body 100 as shownin FIG. 5. After the curing process is completed, the screen members 120(reference numeral 120, refer to FIG. 4) are preferably removed.

The package body 100, shown in FIG. 5, is diced at predeterminedintervals. The diced package body 100 is subjected to a trimmingprocess, a forming process, and the like to thereby form a plurality ofLED packages as shown in FIG. 3.

That is, when the package body 100 is diced, the base 110, shown in FIG.5, is diced into portions serving as the base part 11, shown in FIG. 3,the partition walls 112, shown in FIG. 5, are diced into portionsserving as the partition wall portions 11 b, shown in FIG. 3, and thegroove 111 is diced into portions serving as the mounting portion 11 a,shown in FIG. 3. The package body 100 is diced according to thethickness of each LED package along imaginary lines, shown in FIG. 5.Here, the imaginary lines indicate intervals at which the package body100 is diced.

Here, the package body 100 is not necessarily diced at regularintervals. However, the LED chips are previously arranged according torequired thickness of LED packages, and the LED packages having the LEDchips therein undergo the filling and curing processes. Then, thepackage body is diced according to the thickness of each of the LEDpackages. Therefore, a plurality of LED packages having differentthicknesses can be manufactured.

When the method according to the related art is used, the filler needsto be equally dispensed to each of the LED packages. On the other hand,when the LED packages are manufactured by the above-described methodaccording to the embodiment of the invention, the filler uniformly fillsin the groove of the one base, and then the package body is diced. Aplurality of LED packages that are manufactured using one base have thesame filling height of the filler.

Further, in the method of manufacturing an LED package according to therelated art, individual LED packages are separately cured, and thus themanufactured products may have slightly different characteristics sincethe LED packages may have different thermal strains. On the other hand,when an LED package is manufactured by the method according to theembodiment of the invention, the filler uniformly fills in the entirebase, and then the entire base filled with the filler is cured. LEDpackages having substantially uniform characteristics can bemanufactured this way.

Further, according to the method of manufacturing an LED packageaccording to the embodiment of the invention, the partition walls 112are formed at both opposite sides, and at the same time, the other setof opposite sides are opened. Therefore, when the volume required to befilled with the filler needs to be constant, the thickness of thepartition walls can be more increased instead of the opened portions. Asa result, thermal deformation occurring when a curing process isperformed at a high temperature can be effectively prevented.

As set forth above, according to the exemplary embodiments of theinvention, when LED packages are manufactured in mass production, theheight of the filler filling in the LED packages can be uniform tothereby reduce a variation in color coordinates of the manufactured LEDpackages. As a result, LED packages of varying thickness can bemanufactured by using one base.

While the present invention has been shown and described in connectionwith the exemplary embodiments, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that modifications and variations can be made without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appendedclaims.

1. An LED package comprising: a base part having a mounting portion towhich an LED chip is bonded, and partition wall portions arranged atboth sides facing each other of the mounting portion, the mountingportion having the other set of opposite sides opened; a filling partfilling in a space formed by the mounting portion and the partitionwalls at both opposite sides and transmitting light generated from theLED chip; and an electrode part molded in the base part, protrudingoutward, and connected to the LED chip.
 2. The LED package of claim 1,wherein the partition walls include a reflective film to reflect lightgenerated from the LED chip.
 3. The LED package of claim 1, wherein thebase part is a single body.
 4. The LED package of any one of claims 1,wherein the base part is provided by dicing a base at predeterminedintervals, the base including partition walls formed at both oppositesides, and a groove formed between the partition walls and having aplurality of LED chips bonded thereto.
 5. The LED package of claim 4,wherein the filling part is provided by dicing a filler filling in aspace formed by the partition walls and the groove of the base, and isexposed through the other set of opposite sides of the mounting portion.6. A method of manufacturing an LED package, the method comprising:providing a base having partition walls formed at both opposite sidesthereof and a groove arranged between the partition walls and havingboth open ended portions; arranging a plurality of LED chips atpredetermined intervals and bonding the LED chips to the groove; fillinga space formed by the partition walls and the groove with a filler andcuring the filler; and dicing the base filled with the filler atpredetermined intervals.
 7. The method of claim 6, wherein the filling aspace with a filler comprises providing screen members at both openended portions of the base, and filling a space formed by the partitionwalls, the groove, and the screen members.
 8. The method of claim 7,further comprising removing the screen members before or after thedicing the base.
 9. The method of claim 6, wherein in the bonding theLED chips to the groove, the LED chips are arranged at irregularintervals according to the thickness of required LED packages, and inthe dicing the base, the base is diced to separate the LED chips havingthickness varying according to the thickness of the required LEDpackages.
 10. The method of claim 6, wherein the providing a basefurther comprises forming a reflective film on the partition walls toreflect light generated from the LED chips.